Israel Ousts Two Swedes Who Joined IHH Flotilla

Israel ousted a Swedish MP and a former Israeli who failed to uphold rules on entering the country after they had joined the IHH flotilla May 31.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

First Publish: 11/8/2010, 11:23 AM / Last Update: 11/8/2010, 11:37 AM

Israel ousted a Swedish legislator and a former Israeli on Sunday after they failed to uphold rules on entering the country after they had joined the IHH flotilla May 31.

Authorities said that Member of Parliament Mehmet Kaplan, a native of Turkey, and Dror Feiler, who lives in Sweden and has renounced his Israeli citizenship, tried to pass through Ben Gurion Airport without having obtained entry visas in Sweden.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Hadad told the French news agency AFP, "They (Kaplan and Feiler) were perfectly aware of these dispositions but they did not respect them.” All of the passengers on the six ships in the IHH flotilla signed an agreement to request proper authorization from Israeli embassies in their native countries before trying to enter Israel.

Feiler has visited Israel several times since renouncing his citizenship. He and Kaplan intended to file complaints in Israel against the IDF, charging the army with kidnapping, robbery and violence

Sweden has been a hotbed of anti-Zionism the past several years. A Swedish newspaper last year published allegations that the IDF killed terrorists and then harvested their organs, on the basis of a Palestinian woman's story..

As far back as four years ago, Sweden took action against Israel by withdrawing its participation an in multi-nation aerial drill because "the Swedish Armed Forces were notified at a late stage that a state not belonging to the Partnership for Peace, and with which Sweden did not previously have bilateral military cooperation, and which does not take part in international peacekeeping missions was to take part in the air exercise.” It did not mention Israel by name.

Swedes, alarmed by the growing radical Muslim population in their traditional bastion of tolerance and liberalism, gave surprising electoral support last September to the far-right Sweden Democrats.

Lena Posner, president of the Official Council of Jewish communities in Sweden, warned last month, “This is a Neo-Nazi party … articulate, and talented … but very dangerous. We know where these people are coming from. They are Nazi sympathizers who, under their jackets, are still wearing their brown shirts.”

Swedish Jews of anti-Semitism has been most evident in the city of Malmo, where Muslim violence and home-grown anti-Semitism have encouraged many of its 700 Jews to leave.